"You’ve formed a Sword Pill?"
Lin Shouyuan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it caused the air in the courtyard to still.
Lin Mingxi stopped in her tracks. She turned, looking back at Lin Yan, her pure eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.
Forming a Sword Pill meant one had cultivated four similar Perfect Level Sword Intents.
’Lin Yan has already brought four Sword Intents to Perfection? This quickly?’
’When Lin Yan became Father’s disciple, he only had two Sword Intents at Perfection. How long has it even been?’
"Master, how did you know?"
Lin Yan looked puzzled, but his question was a tacit admission. In that instant, the expression on Lin Mingxi’s pretty face became incredibly complex.
Even with her tranquil disposition, not even caring much for her rank in the clan competition, at the moment she heard Lin Yan’s admission, she suddenly realized she could no longer remain calm.
Lin Mingxi was only just now discovering that she, too, was an ordinary person, capable of feeling jealousy.
’It turns out I didn’t care about my rank in the competition, not because I’m above fame and fortune or dislike competing. It’s simply because I believed my skills didn’t need a ranking as proof, which was why I could afford to be so nonchalant.’
But now, she found she was anything but composed.
’I started practicing the sword at sixteen, personally taught by Father. My cultivation resources far surpassed my peers—no one in the clan who practiced the sword could even begin to compare with me.’
’Even so, I only managed to comprehend my first Perfect Sword Intent at the age of twenty.’
’Now I’m twenty-four, and my second Sword Intent is just on the verge of Perfection.’
Before Lin Yan’s arrival, she had been very satisfied with her own talent for the Sword Dao.
She was different from Lin Mingqi, who had focused wholeheartedly on Spear Intent. At twenty-six, he had comprehended two Spear Intents, but his Realm was only at the Blood Exchange Second Transformation. She, however, hadn’t let her Realm lag behind and was now already at the Blood Exchange Fourth Transformation.
It would take Lin Mingqi at least three years to catch up to her in terms of Realm.
’With that three-year buffer, I’d have enough time to bring my second Sword Intent to Perfection and even start cultivating a third, easily maintaining my lead.’
However, after Lin Yan appeared, her pride had been shattered again and again, until now... there wasn’t a single shred of it left.
Lin Yan felt Sister Mingxi’s resentful gaze from the side, the kind of look one gives a heartless scoundrel. He could guess the reason for her sullen glare.
It was just like that time he had painstakingly acquired Martial Arts Fruits, earned money to trade for cultivation resources, and finally achieved a breakthrough, only to get to the Martial Arts Hall and discover Junior Brother Zhao was still leagues stronger than him. That feeling of helplessness was exactly what Sister Mingxi must be feeling now.
Faced with Sister Mingxi’s complicated feelings, Lin Yan could only pretend not to notice. He didn’t know how to comfort her; no matter how nice his words, they would just sound hypocritical. He couldn’t very well tell Sister Mingxi about his Martial Arts Tree.
’I’m this fast because I’m using a cheat!’
Besides, compared to comforting Sister Mingxi, Lin Yan was far more interested in how his master had discovered he had formed a Sword Pill.
’I formed the Sword Pill a long time ago, but Master didn’t notice last time. Why did he notice now? Is it because my Sword Pill originally contained only four Sword Intents, whereas now it includes the Flowing Water Sword Intent I acquired from Senior He?’
’The Sword Pill went from holding four Sword Intents to five, and that’s why Master could perceive it?’
"Sword Rhythm. Your body now bears the Sword Rhythm of a Swordsman, and only those who have formed a Sword Pill can possess such a thing."
"Sword Rhythm?"
"Sword Rhythm is the very spirit-resonance of the sword. For us who practice swordsmanship, at the later stages, man and sword merge. The man is the sword, and the sword is the man."
Listening to his master’s explanation, Lin Yan’s confusion remained. ’Then why didn’t Master and Senior He sense any Sword Rhythm on me when I first formed the Sword Pill?’
"If I’m not mistaken, you must have formed this Sword Pill not long after you descended from Tai Mountain."
Lin Shouyuan stroked his beard. When he had received his friend’s letter stating that Lin Yan had only obtained a Rank B Sword Dao qualification from the Tai Mountain Sword Inquiry Stone, he had been worried Lin Yan would be discouraged.
After all, before Lin Yan had gone, both he and his friend had believed he would achieve Upper Rank B at the very least, and that he even had a shot at contending for Rank A.
It now seemed that not only had the Rank B result not discouraged Lin Yan, it had actually spurred him on, allowing him to cultivate both the Pine Wind Sword Intent and Mist Rain Sword Intent to Perfection in such a short time.
No wonder a boy from a Humble Family could come this far. His disciple’s mental fortitude was far beyond what the youths of the clan could hope to match.
A son of a Humble Family, tough and unyielding.
That saying was a perfect reflection of his disciple.
"Master, how did you guess?" Lin Yan asked, following his master’s train of thought.
"Forming a Sword Pill is never as simple as just representing the comprehension of four Perfect Level Sword Intents. More importantly, it signifies that you have received a measure of recognition from the Sword Dao Will. While it’s not like an Innate Sword Heart, who is favored by the Sword Dao Will and granted a Sword Dao Mark, reaching this step already places you above the vast majority of Swordsmen."
Lin Shouyuan’s expression turned serious. Now that his disciple had formed a Sword Pill, he needed to learn more about the Sword Dao. This knowledge was crucial for the choices he would make on his future Martial Arts path.
"An Innate Sword Heart is favored by the Sword Dao Will; once their Realm is high enough, a Sword Dao Mark will descend upon them. For those who form a Sword Pill, however, Sword Rhythm will naturally emerge as the pill is nurtured within the body. When that Sword Rhythm is strong enough, they too will gain the favor of the Sword Dao Will and, in the future, will have the opportunity to claim an ownerless Sword Dao Mark."
"Normally, the time it takes for Sword Rhythm to appear after forming a Sword Pill can be as short as a few months or as long as three years... The fact that a wisp of Sword Rhythm has appeared on you in just over a month proves that your Sword Pill is exceptionally compatible with you. It took me four months for my own Sword Rhythm to appear."

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